Hear Zoë interviewed on BBC Radio 3's Essential Classics next week

25 May 2017 02:01

Zoë will be the special guest on BBC Radio 3's Essential Classics next week. What makes this classical music show particularly exciting for fans is that she'll be interviewed on not just one edition but each edition from 29 May to 2 June, i.e. Monday to Friday. Tune into Essential Classics from 10-10:30am each weekday or catch up on the iPlayer to hear Zoë chatting to presenter Sarah Walker.

At the end of the week, a podcast version of their discussions will be available to listen to and download indefinitely.

As the BBC's programme details explains, 'As well as discussing her life's work, Zoë shares her passion for classical music, choosing a selection of her favourite works by composers including Verdi, Malcolm Arnold and Clara Schumann.'

That last name caught my eye – you may remember that Zoë played the 19th-century German composer and musician in Clara's Song (2014), which was written by her husband, Gawn Grainger. Like Essential Classics, the beautiful one-off performance at London's Royal Academy of Arts combined the spoken word with classical music.

Let's hope that Clara's Song is one of the subjects discussed next week...

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Great insights into Zoë's character in ITV drama Girlfriends

14 May 2017 03:09

Writer Kay Mellor's production company, Rollem, which is set to film Girlfriends, her new ITV drama, has shared some great insights into Zoë's character in the series on its website:

'Gail [...] has received her decree nisi from second husband Dave. She has six weeks and a day to win him back before the divorce becomes absolute, but can Gail switch focus from wayward son Tom and grandson Ben to concentrate on saving her marriage? Particularly as Tom is newly released from prison, tagged, and needs her help getting his life back on track.'

Will Gail succeed in rescuing her marriage or find herself putting her troubled family's needs before her own?

It'll be fantastic to see Zoë tackling this emotive storyline when Girlfriends is broadcast next year.

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Wishing Zoë a wonderful birthday

13 May 2017 01:21

Wishing this very special actress a very special happy birthday and many happy returns!

If you have a birthday message for Zoë, feel free to email it to me at liz@zoewanamaker.com, and I'll ensure it's passed on.

With Britannia, Inside Number 9 and the newly announced Girlfriends coming to TV, plus a theatre production on the horizon, the next twelve months look set to be a particularly exciting time for Zoë and everyone who enjoys her work.

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Zoë to star in Kay Mellor's 'exciting new series' Girlfriends for ITV

11 May 2017 16:47

Details of the new drama mentioned in Zoë's recent interview with the Sunday Telegraph have now been revealed. According to the ITV Press Centre, Zoë will star in six-part series Girlfriends alongside Miranda Richardson and Phyllis Logan.

Written by the hugely successful Kay Mellor, Girlfriends will see Zoë play Gail, one of a trio of childhood friends dealing with a tragic death while 'struggl[ing] with the responsibilities that come with being a modern woman of a certain age'.

Speaking about Girlfriends, Zoë says, 'I'm looking forward to working on this exciting new series with such a stellar cast. I have long been a fan of Kay's work and am relishing the opportunity to work alongside Miranda and Phyllis.'

As Mellor emphasises, the programme aims to give 'women of a certain age who feel like they are invisible and unheard [...] a voice' while treating viewers to 'a big, bold, dark story [...] shot through with humour'.

It sounds fantastic, and I'm thrilled that Zoë will be working again with Richardson after their brilliant performances in the quirky campsite comedy-drama Ball Trap on the Côte Sauvage (1989).

Girlfriends will begin filming in June and air on TV in 2018.

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Zoë's 'lovely' portrayal of Joan Littlewood is among Babs' highlights

8 May 2017 20:25

Zoë's portrayal of visionary director Joan Littlewood in Babs, which was broadcast last night on BBC One, is being praised in the press and by TV viewers. She gave 'a lovely chain-smoking performance,' writes the Guardian enthusiastically in a review describing the Barbara Windsor biopic as a 'heartwarming' 90-minute drama.

Despite mistaking Littlewood for a cleaner when arriving at a theatre in late 1950s London, the young Windsor dazzles the director with her raw talent. 'Where have you been all my life?' Littlewood wonders during the particularly memorable audition scene. Babs made clear that although Windsor didn't always see eye to eye with her mentor, who favoured an unusual, experimental approach to rehearsing and staging plays, the director's mixture of encouragement and tough love helped the starlet to shine.

'No line in [Tony] Jordan's beautifully constructed script had more resonance than Littlewood's harsh advice [to Windsor] concerning the Carry On films: ''If you do it, all you'll ever be is the sexy little blonde,''' the Telegraph points out in its favourable review.

Littlewood is described by Windsor's agent in Babs as 'the most innovative theatre director this country's ever seen'. Appropriately enough, the programme itself is also highly original. It plays with our sense of time and place, as if an elaborate dream is unfolding. While that theatrical style wasn't to everyone's taste, I thought it worked wonderfully well. Babs' originality, as well as Zoë's delightful, nuanced performance, impressed many other viewers too, perhaps most notably the actor Larry Lamb (Windsor's former EastEnders co-star) and charity Tree Aid, of which Zoë has long been a patron.

Entertaining and moving, Babs is currently available to pre-order on Region 2 DVD before being released on 15 May. For roughly the next four weeks, you can also watch the programme online via the BBC iPlayer.

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